Rashel
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "rain" or "spring shower".
Name Census estimates that about 1,151 living Americans carry the first name Rashel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rashel today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashel births was 2008 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rashel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 297,788 Americans
Peak year
2008
80 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,322
Tracked since 1964
Census
Rashel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,218 people with the first name Rashel, which placed it at #10,785 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,785
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,218 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
47.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rashel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashel is Hispanic at 47.9%. The next largest groups are White (38.7%) and Black (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rashel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rashel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino47.9% · 583
- White38.7% · 471
- Black or African American7.0% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 41
- Two or more races3.0% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Rashel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashel from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 470 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rashel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rashel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Rashel, while Illinois, Georgia, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rashel
The name Rashel has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is a feminine name derived from the Hebrew word "roshe," which means "head" or "beginning." This name is closely related to the biblical name Rachel, which has a similar meaning and spelling.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rashel can be found in the Book of Jeremiah, a book in the Hebrew Bible. In Jeremiah 31:15, the prophet laments over the matriarch Rachel weeping for her children who were taken into exile. This biblical reference suggests that the name Rashel has been in use for centuries and holds significance in Jewish tradition.
During the Middle Ages, the name Rashel gained popularity among Jewish communities across Europe and the Middle East. It was often used as a variant spelling of Rachel, reflecting regional linguistic differences and variations in pronunciation.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Rashel Varnhagen (1514-1569) gained recognition as a prominent Jewish woman scholar and poet in Italy. Her works explored themes of faith, love, and the human experience, making her an influential figure in Renaissance literature.
Another historical figure bearing the name Rashel was Rashel Leah Lucena (1590-1668), a Jewish writer and scholar from Spain. She was known for her expertise in Hebrew poetry and her contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the Sephardic Jewish community during the 17th century.
Moving forward in time, Rashel Blumen (1824-1909) was a German-Jewish writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and social reform. Her works addressed issues of gender equality, education, and the role of women in society, making her a notable figure in the feminist movement of the 19th century.
In the 20th century, Rashel Lubitz (1901-1999) was a Polish-American artist and sculptor who gained recognition for her abstract works and contributions to the art world. Her sculptures and paintings explored themes of identity, spirituality, and the human experience, earning her numerous accolades and exhibitions throughout her career.
These examples illustrate the rich history and cultural significance of the name Rashel, which has been carried by influential individuals across various fields, from literature and scholarship to art and activism, throughout the centuries.
People
Rashel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rashel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,151 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 297,788 US residents.
Is Rashel a common name?
We classify Rashel as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashel most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashel was 2008, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashel is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rashel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,218 people with the name Rashel, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,785 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rashel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rashel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rashel leans strongly female. 1,173 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 42 male bearers (3.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rashel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashel is Hispanic at 47.9%. The next largest groups are White (38.7%) and Black (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rashel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Rashel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.9% (583 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rashel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rashel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rashel in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rashel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rashel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rashel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Rashel?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Rashel, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.